Commodore's welcome

It is a great pleasure to introduce this Spring Ebb & Flow, the first in my term as Commodore. These last few months have been busy ‘behind the scenes’ with the new Committee undertaking a broad range of work aimed at getting us moving for the season ahead and improving and enhancing the Club. A few headlines:

Our calendar of our forthcoming activities, both on-the-water and social, through to the end of the year can be found here; this will continue to be updated as the season unfolds.
We have set aside resources to enable interior and exterior redecoration of our excellent facilities.
We are exploring the development of the downstairs bar and patio area which is currently an underused resource particularly given our fantastic location.
Arrangements are being put in place for this year’s RYANI-approved sailing school (see below)
Efforts are afoot to reinstate and upgrade the Junior Room.
We are beginning to reach out to local schools to see if there are opportunities to attract more young people to on-the-water activities.
Work is in hand to upgrade our kitchen facilities such that we can continue to host our social functions which are such an important element of the Club.
We are in the process of purchasing new tables and chairs for the function room.
We have undertaken a comprehensive maintenance review of the Club premises and initiated action to improve a number of areas
There has been a significant clean up in and around the Club with at least one full skip of accumulated rubbish already away.
We have commenced a review of how we communicate with members for example through this newsletter and through social media.
We are planning a number of social events for Members including an event to mark the juncture that our current premises are 25 years old this year – where does the time go?!

This activity, and more, picks up on many aspects of the response which we received in the Members survey undertaken last year. However, we have more work to do on a Development Plan so that we can secure the long-term future of the Club and improve the benefits that members enjoy. With this in mind, I should like to invite you to attend a Club Development Plan workshop to be held in the Club 1600-1800 on Saturday 6th May.

With Spring upon us now is the time for us to enjoy all that CSBC has to offer and I look forward to seeing you in and around the Club or, even better, on the water.

Eddie
07739 879433

Meet the new committee

Our Committee this year is made up of a mix of familiar and new faces. Hopefully this provides a combination of ‘corporate memory’ as well as encouraging an influx of fresh thinking. We were pleased this year to welcome Breda Ritson as Social Secretary and Kenny McCormack as Maintenance Officer. Iain Taylor also stepped up to the Committee this year but unfortunately has been unable to continue in that role owing to other priorities.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Willie Connon and Clodagh Connan who have
stepped down from the Committee this year. Willie and Clodagh continue to remain on-hand to
provide advice and support going forward.

Sailing Update

Spring is here and the sailing season officially starts this year on Easter Monday with the Egg Race for the Emily Tankard – the warning signal for the races will be 12.30pm. We hope your dinghy and crew are ready?

Some of the yachts are already in the water having wintered over in Ballycastle and Glenarm. I know the owners and families make good use of the marinas, even having made the odd trip to Campbelltown and Church Bay, and it’s reported, there’s been the odd party on board! Oh. to have a marina in Cushendall.

But now is time to do some maintenance and be ready for the season ahead. The first race in the bay for the big boats will be Tuesday the 9th May first signal 7.30pm.

In the boat yard, people are busy doing last minute repairs, painting, polishing and rigging their boats ensuring that everything is “Ship-shape”. It’s a good place to get some advice and help from many seasoned sailors with years of experience, however as usual the best advice will be obtained in the bar after.

As usual there have been one or two new purchases into the club and no doubt the new owners are particularly keen to be getting out on the water.

The Sailing Committee have assembled a full calendar for you this year with something for everyone. It includes racing and social sailing both in the bay and further away with planned trips. A summary is below but the most up to date details and times of the various fixtures and events through to the end of 2023 will be published on the Club website soon, so log in to the Website and keep up to date.

Anyone interested in supporting the sailing by volunteering as Race Officer, safety boat driver or rescue boat crew should contact me on 078 0110 8153, training will be provided.

Ciaran

Sailing School Preview

Final preparations are underway for the summer sailing courses. Online booking will be made available to CSBC members first, before becoming open to Non Members. We expect courses to book up fast when the online booking opens in May, so please check back to the website regularly. Boats and equipment will have final checks over the Easter period.

The Committee are pleased to report that the Junior Room is being instated for our junior members. Keep an eye out for developments!

John

Maintenance report

Lots of activity behind he scenes to prepare the club for the new sailing season and keep the club house in good order. A full inspection of the building has been completed with a long list of items to tackle over the coming months. Some of the planned items to come:

Safety barrier and wind break added to the balcony area
Renovation of the kitchen to modernise and make it more fit for purchase for the size of the events that are hosted at the boat club
Respraying and treatment of the patio tables so that can be placed out again for the new season
The exterior of the building is planned to be repainted

Kenny

C.S.B.C. Social update

. .

During the Christmas Season, the Club proved itself once again as a great place for Members and friends to meet up. As well as the opportunity to meet Santa, there was the traditional meet up on Christmas Day and a highly successful Christmas Cocktails night. Towards the end of January, we also enjoyed a great Burns Night in the Club with traditional fare along with music and dancing courtesy of Kieran Dempsey and friends from Glens Comhaltas.

On Easter Sunday we are holding a Kids Arts & Crafts Workshop from 1400-1600 and on Easter Monday we will once again be hosting Italian Night. We have had a great response to both of these events for which online booking is now closed. There are however a few spaces still remaining – please contact me directly for any last minute bookings: 07870 578767.

Looking ahead:

The Glens Comhaltas will be launching the County Antrim Fleadh 2023 in the Club on the evening of Saturday 15th April. Branch musicians are to be joined by special guest musicians who took part when Cushendall first hosted the Fleadh in 1986
On the evening of Saturday 29th April, James Farrell will be running a Nautical Quiz in the Club for all those with an interest in sailing & boating. Whether you are a sailor or a ribber, a racer or a cruiser, a yachtsman or a yachtswoman please come along, put your boating knowledge to the test and enjoy a bit of friendly banter with like-minded friends. No fees or booking required.

Other social events are in the planning so please keep an eye out for further details. Information will also be posted on the Upcoming Events section of the Club's website. Whilst it may seem like a long way ahead, one date for your diary is the Annual Dinner which will be held on Saturday 18th November when we will be marking the anniversary of 25 years in our current premises.

Breda
07870 578767

Seabird sets sail for a new port

February saw the yacht Seabird, a Cobra 850, depart the club for new seas. Owned by Gerry Shannon and Donal McAlister, and before that by David and Meryl McKeown, Seabird first arrived in CSBC in 1982. Having taken part in many club events over the years, she had not taken a dip in several seasons and the boat's new owner – Eugene McMenamin – has transported her to Rathmullan in Donegal where she will hopefully enjoy fair winds, following seas and many future years of sailing.

Call for family members’ email addresses

If you have a family membership it's likely that only one email address per family is registered to receive communications from the Club. This means that many of our members will miss receiving updates about activities and won't receive the Ebb and Flow newsletter!

Should the other members of your family like to receive emails from the Club, please ask them to sign up here or email membership@csbc.co.uk.

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Cushendall Sailing & Boating Club · Coast Road · Cushendall · Ballymena, County Antrim BT44 0QW · United Kingdom